Twisted Time
by DarkHybridChild
Summary: Before the fall of the Uchiha, before the whispers of deceit began... The Uchiha and Nara clan made an agreement. Their first children were to be wed to unite the clans. Now, the Uchiha clan's dead, leaving behind an Avenger and a Lover wanting revenge.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Twisted Time  
**Series:** Naruto  
**Rating:** T  
**Genres:** Drama, sorta-angst, adventure, romance.  
**Warnings:** Crack, swearing, shounen-ai, shojou-ai, het, insane love triangle with the Uchiha's, my typical.  
**Verse:** Canon Redeux.

**DHC: **New fic I've begun. I've had this idea swimming around in my mind for quite some time. I decided, what the hell, I've already started so many other fics, I might as well add this one to the pile, right? At least it's something to amuse the masses with, lol. So, anyway, I hope you people enjoy this beginning chapter! -rides off on her chocobo into the sunset-

* * *

A five year old Uchiha, Itachi stood silent beside his father as he watched Nara, Shikaku enter into the room and exchange pleasantries with his father before sitting down in one of the chairs in the quaint, if not sterile room of one of the guest offices in the Uchiha main house.

"Congratulations are in order, I see. You're now a father." Uchiha, Fugaku said as he leaned back and reached across from his seat to the cabinet beside and withdrew a bottle of sake and two glasses. Meticulously, he poured the liquid into the glasses equally before passing one to the other figure in the room.

"Heh, thanks." Shikaku responded, raising his glass a little in small salute before he took a sip. "It feels almost strange, to be called a father. I suppose the congratulations are a few months late considering the birth of your second son."

Itachi shifted subtly, the smallest hints of pride swelling inside of him at the thought of his baby brother. Fugaku nodded, accepting the praise before glancing to Itachi. "Yes, Itachi has been much help in taking care of him for his mother. Sasuke can be quite a hassle but he is a pride, indeed."

Itachi did not speak, but the small glow that lit his eyes up spoke the words for him at the praise. Shikaku chuckled before taking another sip of sake as he contemplated for a moment. "So I suppose you're calling upon me to honor our deal, not just to congratulate me?"

Itachi's brows rose up and he glanced curiously up to his father, who looked back at him. "The stability of Konoha can waver at any moment, Itachi. For the peace to remain, we clans must continue to hold together in steadfast kinship. This is not merely for front, I want you to know. The Nara clan is our closest ally amongst the bond of the other clans, Itachi. We made a pact that once he produced an heir, you and they would be bonded together when older."

Itachi blinked his eyes curiously again, tilting his head slightly. "Bonded, father?" He questioned softly.

He'd seen so much war and death already, that such things of bonding and kinship besides his family were foreign almost. He loved his little brother and had already sworn to protect him from ever seeing such things. He would take care of him til his dying breath if it ever came to it.

"Yes, Itachi," Fugaku responded, placing one hand on the boy's shoulder, looking down into his eyes. "When you and Shikaku's child are much older, you two will bond together to make our clans stronger. In other terms, I suppose you can call it a marriage."

Itachi's eyes widened in realization. So he was to be married? "Like you and mother, father?" He questioned.

"Yes, Itachi. You will wed Shikamaru, Shikaku's son."

"But... Isn't that another boy?" He questioned, frowning in confusion.

"Gender matters not, Itachi. Between all clans, marriages between heirs or other members of the clan are considered great honors, for they are there to show the sacred bond of trust between clans. You will be upholding the Uchiha legacy and Shikamaru, the Nara's. It is a big responsibility but one day, you will be worthy of it."

Itachi's heart swelled with pride at the words of praise from his father. "Yes, father. I will carry out the Uchiha's legacy and continue to make us great!"

Slowly, Fugaku's hand moved from Itachi's shoulder to rest on his son's head, the edges of his lips softening for a moment in a semi-small smile before glancing over to Shikaku who had been observing. "Is he here?"

"Yes, He is with my wife, who is presumably chewing the fat with yours. Shall I bring him in?" Shikaku asked, downing the remains of his drink.

"I would have Itachi meet him, if it is of no trouble." Replied Fugaku, before he slowly took a meticulous sip of his own sake.

Shikaku nodded and stood up before slowly ambling off to find his wife.

Itachi stood still, fighting the urge to fidget. A small tingle of excitement ran through his body. Fugaku held in a chuckle as he observed his son. "It is fine, Itachi. You are not required to be silent now."

Itachi jostled a little before nodding. "What will it be like, father? For me to marry?"

The man was silent for a long while as he thought of a response. "You will be required to watch after your mate, protect them since they are younger than you; you must show them love and compassion, but be reserved about it. There is no need to choke them with affection, for if you treat them with kindness, in return, it will flourish on its own. You two will one day take our place as heads of the clans; you two will need to bond closely to weather any storm life throws at you and be prepared to give your life at a moments notice for your other should danger come to them."

Itachi listened silently, nodding every so often, taking the information in. "I will, father."

"That's my son. You will be the greatest Uchiha yet." Fugaku praised softly.

Before Itachi could even begin to feel elated about such praise, Shikaku returned, a blanked draped over his arms and a baby nestling in his arms. Shikaku sat back down and Itachi looked to his father for permission.

"You may," Fugaku responded with the chuckle he'd been holding back. "I know you wish to meet him."

Itachi left his father's side and approached slowly. Shikaku slowly pushed the blanket down to reveal an awake and aware baby. Itachi stared, tilting his head. The child yawned, rubbing its eye as it stretched before it looked back at Itachi as well.

They stared, and Itachi could see how fragile and small Shikamaru was, how easily it would be to harm him. He never wanted anyone to see the things he had, he silently vowed he would protect Shikamaru as well as Sasuke from the horrors of war, death, and destruction. He stepped even closer, reaching out before hesitating, breaking his staring with the baby to look up at Shikaku. "...May I?"

The man chuckled quietly himself before he nodded. Slowly, he shifted the baby in his arms and in a few simple movements, tranferred the baby to Itachi's awaiting arms. Shikamaru made a small protesting sound when he was moved, but quieted down once he settled back down into Itachi's arms. He stared up at Itachi again and the small Uchiha found himself drawn into the baby's endlessly dark eyes. This was the child he was going to protect, to care for, to eventually marry. His heart fluttered excitedly at the thought that one day, together, they would make their clan's proud.

"I will watch over him," Itachi spoke softly, finally lifting his head once he noticed that Shikamaru's had went lidded with sleepiness. He had lost sense of all time from his staring and was unaware he'd just been standing there for ten long minutes, just staring into the child's eyes.

Shikaku nodded, finding himself able to smile at the sincere honesty shining in Itachi's eyes. "Thank you, Itachi. I'm sure you will protect my son with everything you posess."

Nodding, Itachi looked to his father, searching for some kind of approval for his statement.

Once again, Fugaku's lips curled the slightest. "You have quite the responsibilities now, Itachi. I expect great things from you."

"Yes, father. I won't let you down." Itachi replied before looking back down at Shikamaru, finding the baby had fallen asleep.

He found himself smiling, because his mother had told him that babies only fell asleep in others arms because they felt warm, secure, and safe. This meant that Shikamaru already believed he was safe with him. He would make sure it would stay that way. He lowered his head, surprising both of the men watching by placing a soft kiss against the baby's cheek; at which the baby only made a sleeping coo, snuggling deeper into the small Uchiha's arms.

"Race you!" A seven year old Sasuke cried as he began to charge off at full speed from the Academy towards the Uchiha compound.

"No fair, you cheater," A seven year old Shikamaru replied as he managed to catch up to the other, matching him speed for speed.

The two laughed and giggled as they pushed and tried to trip one another in their running, each trying to get ahead, but they somehow managed to stay neck and neck. Up ahead, waiting at the gate for them was eleven year old Itachi, and he smiled slightly at the two's antics. He straightened his stance and bent his knees a little, locking his ankles in place and nearly three seconds later, fell straight backwards despite all his training at the impact as the two collided with him.

"Ita-nii!"

"Ita-kun!"

Itachi chuckled softly as he gazed up at the two grinning boys.

"I win!" Sasuke declared proudly.

"You did not, I was ahead of you by .23 centimeters." Shikamaru replied with a frown.

Itachi put one hand on either of them to quell the storm of rage that would surely begin if he did not intervene. "It doesn't matter, you both won to me. That's all that counts."

Both boys seemed to accept the answer and beamed.

"Boys, I have juice and some small cakes inside for you!" Mikoto called from the door of the Uchiha Main House.

"Kaasan!" Sasuke bolted up and sped off towards the woman while Shikamaru was slower in getting up, lagging behind to help Itachi up and smiled at him.

Itachi looked down at him and smiled back. "Come on, let's go."

"Un," Shikamaru replied, before almost shyly taking Itachi by the hand and began to walk with him towards the door.

Sasuke turned away from hugging Mikoto to see, small jealousy flaring up inside of him before he stomped it down. Shikamaru was Itachi's betrothed, they had every right to hold hands. Still, he felt the third wheel in a way when it came to his brother's attention. He was great friends with Shikamaru, it was true, but he valued his brother's praise more and it seemed now all of Itachi's praise went to Shikamaru little by little.

Mikoto saw and placed her hand on Sasuke's head, gaining his attention. She smiled lovingly at him. "Come now, Sasu-chan, let's get you your snack. How was your day?"

He found the will to smile happily at her attention as she turned them to head inside. "Alright, Kaasan. My day was boring and Naruto was being an idiot again and the girls kept giggling towards me and, and-" His voice disappeared soon enough as they headed further inside.

"Ita-kun... Why does Sasu-kun always try to beat me?" Shikamaru finally asked slowly. The two had been vying for Top Student all year. Despite their friendship, it had turned into a rivalry in school.

"Because...," Itachi responded slowly, thinking over his words. "I think he feels inferior. He feels neglected. Father's always training me or busy with other things to train Sasuke, and you're my betrothed... I think he feels he has to prove himself against you to gain my approval."

"But you already do approve," Shikamaru protested softly.

"Yes, but he doesn't see it. My foolish otouto feels like if I don't say it to him, I'm not proud of him. Father treats him fairly coldly, often not even acknowledging him. Mother, you, and I are the only ones who verbally praise him."

"I see..." Shikamaru said, feeling a little bad.

Itachi stopped, slowly tugging Shika to a stop as well. "Don't feel bad, he must learn this on his own. He's more fragile than he looks, so we must keep showing him our love, but we must also not shower him with it, it will just make him weaker. He must learn to understand the more silent sides of affection."

Shikamaru looked up at Itachi, taking his words in with a contemplative expression for a long while before he nodded. "I understand."

Itachi knelt down til he was Shikamaru's height, it was kind of hard on his still growing body; he'd recently hit a growth spurt and shot up about seven inches within a few months, and his body was still adjusting to the new height. Shikamaru put his arms around Itachi's neck without hesitating and Itachi hugged him back before, without warning, swept the smaller boy up bridal style with a small chuckle and began carrying him towards the door.

"Hey!" Shikamaru cried, pouting madly as his feet wiggled back and forth in protest. "I can walk, Ita-kun."

Itachi smiled again. "Can't I spoil my betrothed?"

A small, heated flush came to the Nara heir's face. "I-I..." He trailed off, shyly lowering his head. "I guess..."

Itachi's smile widened. "Then hush and let me carry you."

Nodding again, Shikamaru fell silent, resting his head against Itachi's shoulder as the older boy carried him inside and into the kitchen before setting the other down in the chair. So as not to make Sasuke feel so jealous, as he passed, he placed a hand on his brother's head, ruffling his hair softly.

Mikoto smiled as she served the three of them juice and a small pound-cake each. "Here you go, enjoy."

"Thank you, Kaasan." Itachi complimented as he took a small bite of his cake.

"Thanks, Kaasan!" Sasuke cried, gulping down a mouthful of juice.

Shikamaru was a little more reserved, smiling up at the woman. "Thank you, Miko-chan."

The woman giggled at the endearing term and placed her hand on the boy. "Oh, it's no trouble at all, Shika-chan. You're part of the family."

The other smiled wider before taking a bite of his cake. The three ate in relative silence. Save the occasional quiet burp that escaped the two younger boys, who only giggled.

That night, Shikamaru stayed the night as he did every few days. A storm had blown in and lightning flashed, thunder boomed, and the two seven year olds were huddled close together, clinging on for dear life in Sasuke's bed, hiding under the covers as if it would shield them.

"Why does it have to be so loud?" Sasuke whimpered.

"It always sounds like the Kami are fighting." Shikamaru replied.

At that moment, another flash streaked across the sky, accompanied by a loud roar of thunder. Both boys shot up out of bed, hand in hand, letting out simultanious cries as they flung themselves out of Sasuke's room and pounded down the hall. They skidded to a stop at Itachi's door, just as the older boy himself opened it.

"Ita-nii!" Sasuke cried, immediately latching his free hand onto his brother, Shikamaru having done the same and they were both looking up pleadingly at him as another clap of thunder shook around them.

Itachi wanted to chuckle, but he refrained for he remembered his own time when he was scared of the storms. He knealt down to their height and stared at both of them. "There is nothing to be afraid of," He soothed softly.

"But Ita-kun-" Shikamaru began to protest.

"It is just the Kami's way of displaying their power. Just like we give off chakra to show our power, this is their way."

Both boys went quiet for a long time, shivering at each flash of lightning around them, trembling at each shake and boom of the thunder, but nodded after a long moment in understanding.

"W-will the Kami hurt us?" Sasuke asked timidly.

"They do not intend to hurt us most of the time. There are accidents that do happen, and then there are times people invoke their wrath and they smite them with their powers." Itachi replied, just as softly as before, so as to keep them relatively calm.

Shikamaru and Sasuke nodded.

"C-can we stay with you tonight, aniki?" Sasuke asked.

"Just this once?" Shikamaru pleaded.

Itachi chuckled softly, standing up and opening his door wider. "Just this once," He echoed quietly as he stepped back inside.

Both boys nodded and rushed inside and Itachi closed the door behind him. He climbed back into his bed, and he idly believed it was some miracle of the Kami that the three of them could even fit in his small-sized bed. Even it was getting too small for his growing body. Sasuke boldly claimed the middle and snuggled up tight against his brother, leaving Shikamaru to climb in on the other side of him. Sliding his arms around Sasuke like a stuffed plushie, Shikamaru clung for dear life onto him, both so as not to fall off the edge and to reassure himself that the storm was not going to eat him.

Itachi chuckled inwardly to himself again and pulled the covers up over the three of them before draping his arm across both of them. He stayed awake for an hour, listening as the two calmed down and fell into a slumber, lulled by the pulsings of thunder and lightning. He looked out his window at the storm idly, the thought struck him that someday, someday soon, a different kind of storm would brew.

One that he was going to wield.

_'A Kami's power, indeed.' _He thought quietly to himself before he closed his eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

.

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Twisted Time  
**Series:** Naruto  
**Rating:** M  
**Genres:** Drama, sorta-angst, adventure, romance.  
**Warnings:** Crack, swearing, shounen-ai, shojou-ai, het, insane love triangle with the Uchiha's, my typical.  
**Verse:** Canon Redeux.

**DHC: **Ahh, new chapter. I don't have too much to say about this, actually. o.O strange, ne? xD

* * *

Five years later, the night Sasuke begins to leave.  
-

Shikamaru grabbed ahold of Sasuke's wrist.

"You can't," He pleaded.

Sasuke jerked his wrist free. "Don't tell me what I can or can't do."

Shikamaru grabbed Sasuke again, this time with both hands by the shoulders, spun him around to look him dead in the eye.

"Please, stay. I can't let you go as well, it would kill me. Please... I can't lose you to Itachi. Not this time, it's always been Itachi for you, but did you ever think about me? I ineed/i you. Don't shut me out, Sasuke."

Sasuke hesitated, his sure expression suddenly changed to an insecure one, unsure and confused. He avoided Shikamaru's eyes. "I..."

"If it's the teams, we'll change. We can go to the Hokage, she'll listen to us, but please, don't leave me. Where you want to go, I can't follow. Stay with me... We'll change teams and be together, that way, we can grow strong enough to face Itachi together. There's a reason he left us to live when he could have killed us besides to make us Avengers; there's a piece we're missing. We need to figure it out before we rush into things." Shikamaru urged, moving his hands down from Sasuke's shoulders to take his hands within his own.

Sasuke bit on his lip, looking off to the side, his hands trembling within Shikamaru's. Shikamaru took a deep breath. He knew he had to say this, but it hurt when he thought about it.

"Sasuke, it's true. I really, truly did love Itachi. But there was another side, another story. You were always with me as well. Itachi told me not to smother you with my affection, because it would make you weak, so I listened. But I've always loved you, too." He exhaled, biting on his lip for a moment, the last bit coming out very soft. "...I still love you."

Sasuke's head slowly lifted and he looked at Shikamaru finally. "Do... Do you still love Itachi?"

Shikamaru sighed heavily. "There will always be a part of me that will, I don't think I can ever truly kill that part of me; but when I say I love you, I mean it. I'd do anything to prove that to you. I'd kill Itachi for you just to show you, if that would make you happy. I'd give you the stars in the sky, the world, anything, and everything to prove it to you and make you stay with me."

Sasuke looked away again. "That's more sap from you than I could ever imagine." He whispered.

Shikamaru gave a small laugh. "Only for you, though. Only for you. I couldn't ever imagine talking to anyone else like this, not even Itachi. Sasuke, you're special, whether you realize it or not. You've a potential far greater than anyone's I've seen. If you really wanted, I think you could even be Hokage. But I know that's not what you want. You want your family back. And if I had the power, believe me, I'd give them back to you. But we can't take back the past, we can only move forward. So let's move forward, together this time. I won't leave you again, I promise."

Unbeknowist to them, Sakura was hiding herself behind a tree, listening the whole time, all with tears running down her cheeks. She loved Sasuke, she did! No one else deserved him! So why, why... Why did Sasuke accept this other person's feelings? Someone who wasn't anything to him! Someone who just decided it was okay to waltz into Sasuke's life and talk trash like he knew what was going on.

She didn't know the full truth behind Sasuke and Shikamaru's dynamics or why, but the thought of them together hurt her deeper than she could imagine. Without listening further, she fled.

Sasuke and Shikamaru both startled, but flinched when they saw the streak of pink.

"...Stupid girl." Sasuke mumbled in disdain.

Shikamaru looked back at Sasuke. "Then let's change teams. Create a new one. Asuma's a good teacher, and if we switched out Ino and Sakura... Hinata's shy, but she doesn't have a crush on you, she'd be easier to work with. And she's still pliable, we could still shape her into a good kunoichi, she's not set in some way or another. She wants to prove herself, but doesn't know how. We could show her. I wouldn't recommend Kurenai as a teacher, apparently all she does is try to train them in genjutsu. Asuma's pretty well-rounded. What do you say, Sasuke?"

Sasuke hesitated, looking up at Shikamaru through lidded lashes. Hesitantly, he pulled his hands free from Shikamaru's only to latch them to his shoulder's, pressing close to him, hiding his face in the Chuunin's neck. "Don't leave me again. Don't ever leave me again, I'll kill you if you try." He mumbled against him.

Shikamaru wrapped his arms around Sasuke, nuzzling against the older boy. "Never. I'm not ever going to leave you again. We'll do this together. Let's... Let's go home."

Sasuke nodded.

They walked together to the Uchiha District, entering the entirely quiet main house, and going to Sasuke's room. No words were said as Sasuke turned and pressed close to Shikamaru again and moments later their lips met heatedly. Hands ran across one anothers body and soon, clothes were shed. Shikamaru slowly lowered Sasuke onto the bed, not breaking their liplock and Sasuke whimpered needily, pulling the tie out of the others hair, letting their locks fall free down onto his shoulders.

Breaking the kiss, Shikamaru looked over Sasuke's flushed face. "Kami, you're beautiful." He murmured, running his hands up from his hips, up his side before up his chest and back down with his nails. Sasuke mewled, arching into his touch, face flushing brighter and rolled his hips suggestively. It was a moderately slow pace as their hands touched and explored one anothers body. Four years of seperation had them reeling at how much they'd changed and for a moment, they lost themselves to the memories; their caresses became whistful and full of longing.

But soon, they found themselves back in the present, and their kisses were filled with pent up loneliness and need, a want for one another that they'd been denied for so long. Shikamaru's fingertips danced down the outside of Sasuke's thigh, trailing down until they reached his knee, before switiching and letting his fingers slowly skim upwards on the inside.

Sasuke squirmed, moaning out lowly as he parted his legs shamelessly for the other. His eyes went lidded and glossy as Shikamaru crawled between them, placing kiss after soft kiss across his shoulder before trailing up his neck, down his jawline before sealing his mouth over his, kissing him once more. Sasuke's fingers threaded into Shikamaru's hair desperately as their kiss deepened and Shikamaru's hands continued to tease him.

Their motions synchronized soon enough as they moved together in passion and love, as their bodies pushed close together and pulled away, only to sink back to find one another again. Their cries went unheard by anyone but them as they moved closer, pressed closer, needing the assurance of one another that this was not simply an illusion-or a terrible genjutsu being used against them-that was haunting them like a long-buried ghost.

Sasuke panted, lungs expanding and contracting as if he could no longer breathe fast enough to get any oxygen. All he could see was sparkles of colour and white with every blink of his eyes. His heart pounded, his body quaking. "Sh-Shika..." He whispered.

"Shh," Shikamaru hushed, breathing heavily himself. He could hardly think, hardly function, but the only thing the remained with him was Sasuke. His hand shakily found Sasuke's and their fingers twined together. They'd only barely begun, yet it ended too soon for either of them. Shikamaru's teeth sank down into Sasuke's shoulder, right over the curse mark.

Sasuke's eyes widened, Sharingan activating of its own accord, a sinister purple aura glowed around him and black inky lines formed across his face, down his arms, and leg. He dug his fingers into the others back as he thrashed almost violently beneath him, body shuddering in pain and ecstacy. Shikamaru pulled away from the mark, frowning when he saw the lines, but did nothing more than continue his ministrations, his fingers traced the mark down his arm, before he slowly began following the lines down his shoulder and chest with his mouth.

Sasuke groaned lowly, pushing at Shikamaru insistently. Little by little, the further Shikamaru went, the more faded the lines became until they receeded moments later as the shadow nin reached Sasuke's hip. Shikamaru was inwardly relieved. His gasp came unbidden as Sasuke pulled him back up desperately, his Sharingan-whirling still. His gaze was hypnotic and he moaned softly as the Uchiha rolled them over, straddling across his hips.

"You could've asked," He murmured demurely, half way amused.

"Where's the fun in that?" Sasuke retorted, a small smirk rising on his hips. "Now shut up and enjoy the ride."

Making a seal, Shikamaru's mind didn't register what was happening around him thanks to the hypnotic way Sasuke's eyes whorled as he stared into his. Suddenly, he found his wrists pinned to the bed by black vines, thorns digging into him, sending small pricks of pain through his system. He registered it was a genjutsu, but decided not to do anything about it. He wanted Sasuke to have his fun, that and he was intrigued what his lover would do.

Before he hardly even finished that thought, his eyes dilated and his mouth opened in a silent scream as his body began to jerk and twitch of its own accord in mind numbing pleasure. Sasuke's Sharingan casted yet another genjutsu inside of his mind that was like someone flipping a lightswitch on and off with his senses and nerves. He could feel shocks and stings of pain as his wrists kept pulling and tugging at the vines, digging the thorns deeper into his skin, only serving to heighten the pleasure.

Blood began to run down his wrists, but he didn't care. He couldn't think, couldn't talk, he could only gasp in mind breaking pleasure. Then, suddenly as quick as it came, it stopped and he was left reeling, the world was spinning and the only thing keeping him grounded were the binds on his wrists and the weight of Sasuke ontop of him. He panted heavy. "Kami, Sasuke..."

Sasuke grinned down at him. "The fun's only beginning."

Making another fast series of seals, the world around them dissolved away, timespace seemed slower and he was suddenly very aware of everything. He was aware of Sasuke's weight on him, of every touch of his fingers; he was aware of every shift and the way Sasuke's body began to move against his. He groaned as the friction of their hips began to turn heavy and felt every single detail about it clearly as if he were watching it with his own eyes.

The way Sasuke twisted and wound his hips against him was erotic, so alluring but torturous all at once. He could feel his own fingers digging into the pliant skin of Sasuke's hip. It was driving him crazy, all he could think and feel was Sasuke. Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. He groaned lowly when Sasuke kissed him and he reciprocated mindlessly. Sasuke knew then, he'd completely imprinted upon his lover. Shikamaru would never leave him, never abandon him; if he tried, he'd feel a terrible pain searing through his mind and body. He'd completely sealed himself into his lover's psyche.

"You'll never leave me...?" He asked.

"Never," Shikamaru breathed.

"You'll never want someone else...?"

"Sasuke... I'd never give you up. Not for anyone, or anything."

Sasuke found himself smiling. He felt a bit bad, to manipulate him, but he never wanted to suffer the pain of being left behind again, to feel abandoned and alone. If he could prevent it, in any way, shape, or form, he'd do it. That, and if Shikamaru truly didn't want it, he would have felt some resistance when he tried to imprint on him.

He began to move once again, rolling his body along and against Shikamaru's, feeling them begin to fall into a synchronization of a rock and sway motion, their moans and soft cries being swallowed by the silence of the night, the only thing to witness their passion was the planets in the sky and the bright, pale moon casting an iluminating glow upon them, as if blessing their joining.

They did not stop until the glowing of dawn came upon them.

The next day, Sasuke and Shikamaru stepped into the Hokage's office, both handing her request forms to change teams, requesting to be placed into the same cell together along with Hinata.

"Why are you doing this?" Tsunade asked, brow raising.

"Because I will no longer tolerate the neglect from Kakashi, nor will I put up with the dobe's antics and Sakura's ignorance. I would rather be with someone I trust and with someone who does not bare a crush on me." Sasuke answered coldly.

"Asuma-sensei is a good teacher, I believe Sasuke would flourish better under him, Tsunade-sama. I also believe he would be better at teaching Hinata than Kurenai and I wish to be with Sasuke in a team." Shikamaru mumbled lazily.

"Why?" Tsunade asked.

"It's a long story," Sasuke responded. "He was Itachi's betrothed and is my best friend. I pushed him away after the Uchiha collapse because of a secret I learned..."

"What secret?" Tsunade asked curiously, brows raising.

"...If you killed the person closest to you, you would gain the ultimate Sharingan power. The Mangekyou. I refused to be close to anyone so I would not have to kill them. I said...terrible things to Shikamaru, I drove him to abandon me, if only for his sake. But... No longer. I will not be manipulated by my brother. I will kill him with my own power. I don't need the Mangekyou to kill him!" Sasuke declared loudly.

Shikamaru's mouth formed a small 'o' of shock. He had not realized the reasons why Sasuke had pushed him away. He had always just merely assumed it to be grief and anger.

The Hokage looked equally as shocked. She sat back in her chair and was silent for a long while.

"...Very well. I will grant your wish to create a new team." She twisted in her chair. "Shizune!"

Her assistant entered the room. "Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"Please call Asuma and Hyuuga, Hinata in here." Tsunade responded.

Sasuke and Shikamaru both gave faint smiles and bowed their heads to the Hokage. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama." Shikamaru thanked.

Soon enough, the other two were alerted of the change in teams.

After their alertion, Tsunade moved the other teams around before calling them in.

"WHAT!" Naruto yelled once he found out. Even Kakashi looked stunned and Sakura had a blank stare on her face that was unbelieving at what she'd just heard. 'It's true... It's all true... Last night...everything...' Her inner self said, despaired. After a moment she collapsed to her knees in tears.

Within the next few days, the teams were rearranged. The new teams were rotated. Kakashi's team had Naruto, Chouji, and Sakura, while Kurenai's had Shino, Ino, and Kiba.

The first week of training under Asuma was difficult, because Sasuke had a rebellious streak, insisting he could do the things Asuma wanted him to do, that is, until Shikamaru would simply ask him to try. Sasuke found out a lot about his own abilities that had been underdeveloped by the way Asuma challenged him in his training. Hinata was so introverted it wasn't even funny. It took a lot of convincing on Shikamaru and Sasuke's parts before the girl could manage to get past her silence and stuttering to speak to them.

"You want to prove you're a good kunoichi, right?" Sasuke asked the girl.

"I... Y-yes..." Hinata mumbled back, poking her fingers together.

Shikamaru slowly reached across and stopped her fidgeting by placing his hand over hers. "The first step is to eradicate the habits you've formed; unlearn them, then start replacing them with better things. For instance: If you quit fidgeting and replace it with something else... A more confidant stance, look people in the eyes when you talk, and speak clearly and not stutter, you'll come off looking like a stronger person than a weak one."

Hinata nodded mutely for a long moment, trying her best to still the shaking of her body. "I-I'll..." She bit her lip, stopping its trembling as well. She took a deep breath and managed to speak clearly. "I'll try my best."

"It's not going to be easy," Sasuke murmured, but sighed. "But... We'll help you. I can't promise I'll always be able to be nice about it, because... I've got my own ambitions to achieve as well, but so long as you understand that I'm going to try to help you, it will hopefully work out alright."

"You've got us, Hinata. Don't be afraid to ask for help. We may be a new team, but the concept of teamwork and friendship is still the same. Don't be afraid to ask Asuma-sensei either." Shikamaru reminded.

The girl nodded her head, clenching her hands into fists to keep from fidgeting. "Yes... Th-Thank you. I'm going...to try my hardest!"

The two males nodded in response, Asuma having watched them from several yards away, smiled a bit, before he approached them. "Ready for today's training?"

"Hai," The three chorused before standing.

"Today, I will be training you individually. Shikamaru, you'll be learning a new technique that I'm sure will be an asset to your shadow abilities. Sasuke, I've come up with a training regimine for you that will help build your chakra control and jutsu; and Hinata, I will be teaching you some taijutsu techniques that can possibly be combined into your Jyuuken."

The three of them nodded and Asuma waved his hand for them to follow him and they began to walk towards the training grounds.

"Hyaaaahhh!" Sasuke cried loudly as he dashed madly up one of Konoha's largest trees in the field they were in, a chidori charged to his hand. He had to continuously focus on maintaining accurate chakra control to keep the chidori active all while balancing the combination of speed and chakra control to his feet in balancing as he dodged limbs on his way to the top.

About 3/4's of the way there, his eyes widened as his foot slipped, his chakra no longer responding to him and he cried out as he began to fall back, his chidori sputtering out and he began to fall. Having had his Sharingan activated to keep the tunnel-vision from the chidori from happening, he was able to maintain quick enough reflexes so he flipped around and caught his fall on a large branch, hearing his knees creak and crack at the hard impact before he jumped down to the next branch, and the next, until he reached the ground and collapsed to the ground, panting, his sharingan flickering repeatedly before fading away completely, absolutely drained of all of his chakra.

Asuma paused in his instructing to Hinata to check him over. He brought one hand to slowly lift the Uchiha's knee up and the boy's whole body stiffened and he let out a pained groan. "You could possibly have cracked the kneecap, or shattered the cartilidge. When you are rested, we'll take you to the medics to have them look at it. Just take it easy, Sasuke. I don't want you to push yourself until your body breaks."

The boy looked agitated at the orders, but nodded weakly before letting his eyes close and began to even out his breathing, going into a meditative state. Asuma nodded, knowing the boy wasn't going to push himself any further, he stood and went back to Hinata. "Are you ready to resume, Hinata?"

The girl nodded, giving a polite bow. "Yes..." She dropped into a stance. She didn't look so hesitant on the outside by the way she had corrected her stance compared to her older one, but she still was a little shaky and unconfidant in her attacks.

"Now remember what I've taught you. Just go with your instinct. Don't think about what you're doing, live in the moment, Hinata. Come at me without worry and let your instincts guide what they say you should do. Let's go over those new moves I've shown you." Asuma instructed, getting into a stance of his own. He didn't have his usual weapons out, as he didn't want to harm the girl too much and they were training in straight taijutsu.

The girl nodded, Byakugan activating. "Hai."

"Go!"

The girl made a fast dash for him, striking out with a Jyuuken blow, and Asuma twisted around just managing to dodge the strike as he swung out and cut the girl across the back with a chop. She cried out, but righted herself from falling by placing one hand on the ground and used the momentum to raise her leg up and around, hooking her foot into the back of the Jounin's vest around the collar and used all of her strength with a grunt as she jumped around and all but threw him in mid-flip.

Asuma's eyes widened slowly, caught in slow motion as he felt the initial movement to his jacket, but could hardly react when she threw him. But he managed to twist and grabbed the girl by her ankle as she threw him and began to spin even as they both began to fly. Building speed, he threw her down towards the ground.

Hinata let out a pained sound as she hit shoulder first on the ground, but rolled with the impact, performing several somersaults before springing back to her feet, getting back into a stance. "Not...yet..." She told herself. Forming a fast series of seals, she dashed again straight for her sensei. She leaped high, grabbing three kunai from her pouch; one she held by the hilt in her mouth, the other two in each hand as she channeled chakra to the blades.

Asuma drew his own and chakra enchanced along his own blades in response as he observed her movements.

She slashed out vertical with the first kunai, a gust of wind and chakra building in strength as it left the tip of the dagger. She slashed horizontal with the next, a gale of light suddenly bursting forth as the light hit the edge of the blade. Asuma's eyes squinted against the intensity, unable to adequetely judge what her next move was.

She backflipped in mid-air, looping ninja wire through the kunai before throwing them hard. The chakra-enhanced wind shielded their sight as it the wind hit against Asuma's blade and they embedded on the ground around him. Pulling herself around by the wire, she grabbed the last kunai and wrapped the two wires around it along with one last wire and threw it hard. It landed at Asuma's feet just as the light and gale died off.

She landed, making another set of seals, her hands glowed white before she pulled on the wire she had, the white glow traveling down the wire to the kunai. At that exact moment, the wire around Asuma activatedas well. The Kunai had been sealed with some of Hinata's chakra into them, the wire's glowed white and where they were touching against Asuma, he suddenly flinched, fighting against the strings as they began to wreak havoc on his body.

It was like being hit with the Jyuuken everywhere, it tore at his chakra networks. He was forced to slice through the wires with his weapons as he spun around before collapsing to one knee. "Very good, Hinata. Using the sun to blind your opponent was a clever way to ensure they couldn't see the wire. Once we improve your speed, you should be able to use more kunai and wire to completely immobilize your opponent."

The girl nodded her head, blushing a bit at the praise. "Thank you... Um, c-can you help me re-seal my chakra into the kunai again?"

The man smiled at her as he stood up and wearily brushed himself off. "Sure. We'll keep practicing until you can do the sealing yourself."

"How are you faring, Shika?" Asuma asked twenty minutes later after he'd helped Hinata reseal her kunai and had Sasuke checked over and healed by the medics. The boy had returned, two knee-wraps on and was sitting against a tree, practicing simple chakra refinement exercises.

Shikamaru frowned a little. "It would go faster if I could practice with something live, but I think I've got the hang of it. The concept was simple to grasp, but the actual execution of it was harder than I'd first thought. It required about 30 more percent output of energy than I first estimated. I have the motions down and I'm only now beginning to start the actual process. It's a pain in the ass."

Asuma grinned wryly. "At least it's something, right?"

"I guess so. Maa, mendoukusai. I'd rather be watching clouds, though... But..." He glanced towards the way to Sasuke, before sighing. "I made a promise. I'm not going to quit just because I don't like it. There's questions I want answered and instead of running away, I should work to grasp it."

Asuma reguarded the change in the Nara heir slowly, glancing as well over towards Sasuke, slowly wondering what had been said that caused the change. "I think that's wise, and if it's anything, I'm proud of you for realizing your fault and doing something about it."

Shikamaru gave the slightest of grins back before turning back to practice some more while Asuma watched him.

Hinata slowly approached Sasuke and sat down next to him, observing for a long moment before slowly speaking up. "Um...Sasuke-kun...?"

The other stopped his meditation and looked over at her. She fumbled for a second as she reached into her coat, but pulled out a small container of ointment. "H-here. It's a salve... I thought it may help your knees... And, um..." She stilled herself so she wouldn't fidget and did her best to speak the next part clearly: "Your chakra network is a little out of place... I could fix that for you if you want me to, that could be one of the reasons your control is off."

Sasuke reguarded the girl for a long moment, seeing her honesty and kindness in them before he reached his hands out and slowly took the remedy from her and gave a small nod. "Thank you... Orochimaru placed a cursed mark on me. Since then, if I use too much chakra or energy, the seal kicks in. That may have screwed my network up. If you think you can fix it, you're welcome to try."

The girl looked surprised, and a little sympathetic at what he told her before she nodded resolutely. "I'll do my best... U-Um... Could you...turn? It's near your shoulder and spine. And if you don't mind...raise your shirt?" She was blushing, but doing her best not to trip over herself in hesitation and embarassment.

Sasuke merely nodded before he moved away from the tree so his back faced her and slipped his shirt up and over his head, exposing the cursed mark and the entire length of his back. He opened the container of salve and undid the wraps on his knees before he dipped his fingers into the cool cream before beginning to rub them over his knees. Almost instantly, he could feel a light tingling where it absorbed into his skin and delivered almost instant relief to the ache he felt in the joints.

Hinata blushed a little brighter, but she told herself she could do it and activated her byakugan once more. She looked to the curse mark and could see the sinister chakra embedded deep into a tenketsu point. She knew she couldn't fix that or even begin to try, but the other points, as she viewed them, were not so bad. She was sure she could fix those. She channeled chakra to her finger and the tip began to glow white. With a gentle, almost caress-like movement, she swept her finger down the inside of his shoulderblade all the way over to the back of his neck and down his spine in one fluid movement.

Sasuke's body went still for a long moment. His mouth had parted a little in surprise. He could feel the chakra entering his system and he felt the way she moved. All of a sudden, he sagged down again in a slump. Something just clicked back into place. He could almost literally feel it like someone just flipped on a switch inside of him. It felt wonderful, his body was shaking for a moment as it readjusted once again to being realigned.

"I-is it okay, Sasuke-kun...?" Hinata asked, fearing she had made a mistake.

"Yes," Sasuke responded immediately. "It feels...nice. Everything feels back in place again. Thank you, Hinata. This salve helped as well, the joints aren't aching anymore."

The girl's face morphed from worried to a bright, hopeful look. "Really...? I'm glad."

Sasuke nodded and pulled his shirt back on as Hinata deactivated her byakugan. "Once my legs are completely healed again, I'll teach you something as my thanks to you. It's something I believe you can master."

"Y-you don't have to do that!" Hinata responded, looking ready to protest, but Sasuke shook his head.

"For me, simply saying 'thanks' isn't enough. Words are empty to me, even if you mean or feel them. Actions speak louder and I want to express my thanks to you through an action. Understand that this is the only way I know how."

Hinata stared for a long moment, taking in what Sasuke said before nodding slowly. "Okay... I understand. Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke nodded, the slightest of smiles curving to his lips before returning to neutral as he settled back against the tree and began to meditate once again.

The rest of the day past mostly uneventful.

Once training was over, Sasuke and Shikamaru walked Hinata back to the Hyuuga compound, dropping her off at the gate with a wave and a goodbye. Hiashi observed his daughter's return and noticed the slight difference in her stance as she walked towards the main house and noticed the small smile she had on her face. She wasn't fidgeting her hands and she wasn't as slumped over as she had been before the switch in teams.

Once she reached the main house, she paused, looking up at him. He could see the conflict within her, but he was proud of the way she didn't fidget as she bowed to him, and even more proud when she didn't stutter as she greeted him. She went inside, toeing her sandals off before making her way to her room so she could prepare for the evening's meal.

Sasuke and Shikamaru walked slowly down the street towards the Uchiha complex. Once they reached, Sasuke stopped for a long moment. "I still hear them sometimes," He said softly.

Shikamaru nodded. "I know, I do, too. It feels like things should be different..." He added on with a frown.

Sasuke's fists clenched and he began to shake angrily. "Itachi... Doushite? Why did he do this? Why had I been such a coward?"

Shikamaru turned, taking both of Sasuke's hands with his, feeling how cold they'd turned and covered them with his, pulling the other closer to him. "I don't know why he did it, Sasuke. I wish I could give you the answer. You weren't a coward. You may have ran away, but anyone would have done the same. You couldn't have beaten him even if you tried. We both would have died if we tried. I..."

Sasuke lifted his head up slowly and met his lover's eyes. "What did...he tell you? I thought you were right behind me, but when I looked back, you weren't."

Shikamaru tensed a little, closing his eyes. "He told me... He would come back. He'd come back eventually for me, that no matter how far I ran, he'd always find me. I blacked out after that."

Sasuke tensed more, shaking heavier. "No... I won't let him!" He hissed, his eyes blazing red with the sharingan, they swirled at a fast rate that it was dizzying to Shikamaru. "You're mine, you're mine! I can't... I can't lose you to him... I'll kill him, I swear it!"

Shikamaru bit his lip, still torn up about the whole thing. He still loved Itachi, but the thought of it sent a searing pain through him. Unable to take it, he put his arms around Sasuke and just buried his head into the Uchiha's neck. "Stop. Just stop, Sasuke. I can't... I can't handle this right now."

Sasuke immediately stilled and fell silent. He bit his lip hard until it bled, the anger and sorrow just filled him like an overflowing tumbler of Tsunade's favorite sake, he could almost taste it. He moved his arms and returned the embrace and they just stood there, shaking together.

"Let's go..." Shikamaru murmured after a long moment.

"Yeah..." Sasuke replied before they pulled away, taking Shikamaru's hand and they began to walk down the too-silent street that welcomed them with its usual cold shroud of echoes until they reached the main house.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** Twisted Time  
**Series:** Naruto  
**Rating:** T  
**Genres:** Drama, sorta-angst, adventure, romance.  
**Warnings:** Crack, swearing, shounen-ai, shojou-ai, het, insane love triangle with the Uchiha's, my typical.  
**Verse:** Canon Redeux.

**DHC: **Annnd I come with another update. Woo, go me! xD

* * *

"Are you sure, Sasuke-kun...? You really think I can do this...?" Hinata asked timidly. It had been several weeks and Sasuke's knees had healed. During that time, he'd been refining his control through meditation and instructing Hinata on the basics of the jutsu he was going to teach her. Shikamaru was sitting against a tree lazily as he listened to the two of them talk.

"Hinata," Sasuke said seriously. "You are a kunoichi. It's not about thinking about, it's a do or don't. You have it inside of you, you just need to believe that you can. You have an untapped potential and with this jutsu, I believe it will be a start to unlocking it." He answered.

Hinata's eyes widened a little before she nodded. "Okay. I'll do it. Thank you...for believing in me."

Sasuke nodded before turning to their target which was a big pile of rocks. "Now, activate your Byakugan."

She nodded and within a moment, the veins appeared around her eyes. Sasuke nodded. "Look for the weakest point in the rocks."

Her eyes scanned the rocks, tilting her head. It took her several long moments to locate the point but when she did, she nodded. "Got it."

"You'll need to practice at being faster in locating a weak point, but that will come later. Now, go through the seals." Sasuke instructed.

The girl nodded and brought her hands up. Making sure not to miss a single one, she went through them at a slow pace before she channeled the chakra to her right hand, steadying it around the wrist with her left. Slowly, blue chakra began to emit from her and slowly, sputters of sound began to emit 'chi, chi, chi'. A white-like glow began to form from her palm and slowly grew larger as she channeled more chakra into it.

"That's it, focus on holding the stream of chakra there." Sasuke encouraged.

"Un," Hinata replied, a bead of sweat forming on her brow from the effort to hold the amount of chakra she was pouring into her hand. Once she was stabilized with it, the lightning that surrounded her arms crackled all the louder.

"Alright, now go for the weak point!" Sasuke ordered.

Without hesitation, Hinata rushed forward as fast as she could. Thanks to her Byakugan, it nullified the tunnel vision she would have recieved.

"Hyahh!" Crying out, she reared her hand back before thrusting it forward the instant she made impact with the rocks, creating a large cloud of dust. There was a loud rumble and a cracking, before the dust settled.

When Sasuke looked, Hinata was slowly pulling her hand back, her eyes were wide and nearly the entire group of rocks had shattered to mere dust or rubble. "I-I did it..." She said softly.

"Remember how it felt, Hinata? The rush, the adrenaline before the collision? Don't ever forget that feeling. The Chidori is powered not only by chakra, but by emotion. Use it only in a dire situation when it seems no hope is left. Use it to defend those you care about." Sasuke said quietly as he approached and looked the destruction over with an almost satisfied expression.

"Y-Yes. I will!"

Shikamaru ambled over, looking at the rubble and whistled lightly. "Good job, Hinata."

She blushed. "Thank you..."

"You will need to practice, but remember not to push yourself. The large quantity of chakra it uses can cause serious chakra exhaustion, you can kill yourself if you try too hard." Sasuke warned.

"I won't. I think I know my limit... That took about 45% chakra out of me... I could only use it one more time if I tried again."

"Just let your body get used to the stretch of this one first before trying again." Sasuke said before turning.

"Come on, let's take a break for lunch. Afterwards, I'll show you some exercises to help build your chakra."

"A-Arigatou, Sasuke-kun!" Hinata smiled brightly and nodded.

Shikamaru smiled softly to himself. This had been a good idea, afterall.

Hiding behind a tree, Asuma watched the tree leave the area with a smile. "Looks like they're a good team afterall." He murmured to himself as he took a drag of his cigarette before he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

The three walked down the main drag of Konoha's streets.

"Where would you like to go, Hinata?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

"M-me?" Hinata stuttered, blinking suddenly.

"Yeah, you've been coming along with us to our favorite places, but we've yet to go to yours. It's your turn to pick." Shikamaru spoke up.

"Um..." Hinata said before adopting a quiet thinking expression. "There's this quiet tea cafe I know of that I really like... Could we go there?"

"Sure." Sasuke said after a moment, offering the girl the smallest of smiles. By now, Hinata had learned that even the smallest visuals of approval from Sasuke ment a lot and she beamed.

"Lead the way, Hinata." Shikamaru said again, grinning slopily, lacing his hands behind his head.

Hinata nodded and began to lead them down the streets.

They entered the small, but quaint cafe, looking around at the beautiful plants littering about the walls, before they made their way to a table by the window. Hinata had a small, serene smile on her face as she looked at the flowers blooming around the window. "They're so pretty... I enjoy the flowers and plants as much as I enjoy the tea they serve." She explained.

Sasuke and Shikamaru nodded their heads. "It is nice," Sasuke murmured, taking a long look at one of the plants that was blooming next to him.

"It adds a certain kind of atmosphere. I can see why you like it. It's...calm."

Shikamaru looked thoughtful. "It adds a relaxing feel to the room. The scent of the plants were well chosen."

Hinata smiled. "Un, the lavender and honeysuckle are natural in relaxing the senses."

Their conversation quieted but soon they ordered their meal and their type of tea. Sasuke chose a relaxing brew of lavender and vanilla while Shikamaru chose a more spice influenced orange and ginger blended tea. Hinata chose a balanced one, deciding on just going with some green tea with some honey mixed in.

Once their meal arrived with their tea, they began to eat at a slow, moderate pace. Hinata smiled to herself at the relaxedness her two teammates were at. It was a rarity she saw Sasuke so loose, so she was happy for the chance. Shikamaru was always relaxed, but he seemed to be at an ease that flowed more natural to their surrounding. Sasuke took a long sip from his tea as he finished his meal and stared out the window. His content expression turned into a tight-lipped frown soon after, his grip on the teacup tightening.

Shikamaru and Hinata noticed, turning their gaze outwards to see Naruto and Sakura walking by towards Ichiraku's with Chouji in tow, looking fairly miserable. Shikamaru reached across the window to tap on it, gaining their attention. He waved at Chouji, who perked up a little and crossed the street and entered the shop, leaving Sakura and Naruto looking bewildered.

"Hey, Chouji. What's wrong?" Shikamaru asked.

"Working with those two is extremely difficult... Kakashi-sensei doesn't even try to teach us anything and the mission we went on was a total failure." Chouji said with a heavy sigh, munching heavily upon his chips.

Sasuke directed his eyes back again to Sakura and Naruto, eyes narrowing into a hard glare. After a moment, he turned back to Chouji. "Join us," He said softly.

Chouji looked bewildered for a moment. "Huh?"

"Join us for lunch, Chouji-kun." Hinata elaborated for her teammate with a soft, kind smile.

"Is that really okay with you guys?"

"Always, Chouji. You're a friend." Shikamaru responded with a smile of his own.

Chouji nodded before pulling a seat up, gaining surprised looks from Naruto and Sakura outside. He motioned for them to go on ahead.

Whether or not the two heeded him, Sasuke didn't bother to look as he turned to face Chouji again. "Order whatever you like. It's on me."

"R-really? You sure, Sasuke...?"

"Un," He dipped his head.

"Thanks!"

Shikamaru picked up the conversation. "You're always welcome to come join us in our training if Kakashi's neglecting you guys. Asuma-sensei won't care. I could use a sparring partner again." He chuckled.

Chouji beamed as he ordered practically half the menu. "Alright. Thanks, guys."

After ordering another round of tea for themselves, Hinata and Shikamaru kept the conversation going with Chouji while Sasuke would sometimes add in a quiet word or two in or a simple verbal acknowledgement.

When they all got up, Sasuke paid for the meal like he promised, waving off the thanks from his team and Chouji. "Don't worry about it," He murmured to silence their complaints.

"I wanted to."

Hinata merely smiled slightly and nodded.

"Still, thanks again, Sasuke." Chouji responded, before he pulled out a bag of his special chips and handed them out in offering to Sasuke. Shikamaru's surprise didn't show too much save for the slight way his brows twitched.

Sasuke, apparently caught onto the sutble display and silently understood what the Akimichi was offering. Without hesitance, he took the bag of chips and nodded his head. "Remember what Shikamaru said: You're welcome to join us any time." He added in to seal the silent transaction.

Chouji nodded again with a smile. "Sure! Well, I gotta go now, take care!"

"See ya, Chouji." Shikamaru grinned.

"Bye, Chouji-kun!" Hinata added in, smiling kindly.

Waving, the Akimichi walked out of the cafe and walked down the streets.

Looking back to Sasuke, the male nodded. "Yeah, let's get back to the training grounds."

They exited the shop and made their way back to the training field.

Later towards the evening, the three were trudging their way back down the streets, Sasuke and Shikamaru steadying a shaking Hinata. Sasuke had all but pushed her to her limit in her chakra training the rest of the day after lunch. Hinata didn't complain once and kept going even though she kept getting more and more tired. Finally, Sasuke stopped her when she was on the verge of chakra exhaustion.

"You did well, Hinata." Shikamaru encouraged as they reached the Hyuuga compound gate's.

"Un, thank you..." Hinata whispered, sounding very weary.

"Have one of your family medic's check your body over. If there's anything out of place, compression wrap it. Take a hot bath and rest, that should help the discomfort." Sasuke advised.

"I will... Thank you, Sasuke-kun..."

Sasuke nodded and both he and Shikamaru let her go as she opened the gate. They watched her as she slowly made her way to the main house and disappeared inside. Inside, Neji found her leaning against the inside, absolutely trembling all over.

"...Hinata-sama?" He questioned.

"Y-yes, Neji-niisan?" She stuttered, a little embarassed at showing so much weakness infront of her cousin, for she knew he scorned to see weak people.

His eyes activated the Byakugan wordlessly and she knew he was looking her physical condition over.

"...My god, what did you do?" He asked her.

"Sasuke-kun's been showing me new techniques to strengthen my chakra flow."

"You've almost completely blown your networks out!" He hissed.

"I know... It's my choice." She answered quietly, looking down.

"Why...?"

"Because... I'm a kunoichi." She answered, looking up daringly to stare into her cousins eyes.

"I'm going to get stronger and stronger. I won't stop until Father approves of me. I'm going to show everyone that I'm not some weakling who needs to rely on others anymore."

Neji's eyes widened the slightest at her fierce decleration and the way she didn't shy away under his scrutiny. His eyes deactivated, and he broke the stare before he turned. "I see." He answered softly.

He began to move down the opposite hall from her, but before he was out of earshot, she heard him say: "Gambatte, Hinata-sama."

She found the will to smile tiredly before she pushed off the wall to go to the medic wing.

Sasuke walked Shikamaru home, biting on his lip. "Your mom's going to kill you, isn't she?"

"For being away three days in a row? Probably. Mendoukusai..." Shikamaru yawned.

Sasuke hesitated at the door. "I... I shouldn't." He whispered.

Shikamaru snorted. "Too late for regrets now, you're stuck with me." He answered back.

Sasuke sighed softly, but nodded.

Shikamaru opened the door and they both stepped inside.

"Ne, ne, tadaima." Shikamaru yawned as he slipped his sandals off.

Shikaku appeared. "Look who's bac-" He stopped midway, staring at Sasuke, who only stared back, visibly shrinking back before he broke the gaze and stared down a the ground.

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed more as he took a step forward.

"Ohayou, Sasuke." The man greeted after a long moment.

"O-ohayou gozaimasu, Nara-san..." Sasuke whispered back formally.

There was a tense moment between them before Shikaku looked to Shikamaru who had adopted a near protective like stance infront of Sasuke. He could visibly see that time had not dulled the bond the two had, despite the falling out the two had seven years ago. The memories of a broken Shikamaru running into the house in hysterical tears after Sasuke had all but shoved Shikamaru away from him, perhaps they had mended things. He hoped so.

He just didn't know how Shikamaru's mother would take it. After a moment, he sighed heavily and scratched the back of his head. "Make yourself comfortable. Shika, your mom's going to kill us both one of these days if you keep disappearing for so long." He said, trying to give a humorous grin.

Shikamaru managed to give his father a weak smile in response and saw Sasuke's shoulders tremble the slightest. "That would be my fault..." He murmured. "I'm sorry."

"There's no need to be," Shikaku responded after another long moment. "I can tell you two have mended things. But it's my wife I'm not sure of."

"Not sure of what?" Came the voice.

Sasuke shrunk back even more, sliding himself to partially hide behind Shikamaru, fingers curling tightly into the male's flak jacket in a show of fear. If there was one person he feared other than his brother, it was this woman. He remembered her temper ever since he was little, and he had always tried never to cross it. But now...he winced. He was going to probably have to face the brunt of it.

The woman stood in the hallway, eyes narrowed, a scornful look on her features.

"What's _he_ doing here?" She spat venomously, causing the Uchiha and Shikaku to flinch. Shikamaru's shoulders merely squared back and tensed, and one hand went back to take ahold of Sasuke's.

"He's here because I want him to be." Shikamaru answered boldly.

"That treacherous boy? Have you forgotten what happened the last time we trusted an Uchiha?"

Sasuke shrunk down even more, hiding his face in Shikamaru's shoulder.

"Mom, stop-"

"Have you forgotten what you went through after _he_ shoved you into the mud and told you he never wanted to speak to you ever again?"

Sasuke was biting heavily on his lip as she laid bare all his sins without the slightest care in the world that it was hurting him-if anything, she was probably reveling in it.

"Mom-"

"Don't you 'mom' me! I won't have this...ithing/i, in my house!"

"**MOM!**" Shikamaru roared loudly, anger in his voice and his eyes were blazing.

The woman's eyes widened and her mouth snapped shut.

"I won't have you talking about Sasuke like that! If you want to insult him, you're insulting me. Even when he shoved me away, I still cared about him, and it recently came to light exactly _why_ he pushed me away. I've forgiven him. I..." He frowned darkly. "I need him. Itachi left us both clues to why he killed the Uchiha's and if it wasn't for me, Sasuke would have gone to Orochimaru, the snake. Would you have rather that?"

"If it meant being rid of the Uchiha's for good, yes!" She said back.

Sasuke flinched, and Shikamaru's fingers clenched. "Fine, that's it."

He turned to Sasuke. "Come on, let's go to my room. We're getting my stuff."

Sasuke's eyes widened.

Shikaku's eyes also seemed surprised.

"You're what?" The woman asked.

"I'm leaving. If you can't find it in your heart or mind to forgive, then you can no longer consider me a son. I disown you and I'm leaving. I'm a Shinobi and adult. I'm free to live where I please."

The woman sputtered, face turning red with indignancy.

"Shikamaru, are you sure this is what you want...?" Shikaku asked.

Shikamaru looked towards his father and sighed. "It's a pain in the ass, but it's what must be done... You know where to find me if you want."

The older male gave a nod, a proud look in his eyes at how his son was standing up for both himself and his friend.

Shikamaru pulled Sasuke along. "Come on, Sasuke."

Nodding silently, the Uchiha didn't say a word as they bypassed the shaking woman as they went to Shikamaru's room.

It was thankfully mostly bare anyway and Shikamaru only took the things most important to him. With four bags between the two of them, they left the Nara compound and made their way to the Uchiha complex.

"Y-you didn't have to-" Sasuke began.

"Don't say it, Sasuke. Don't listen to what she said." Shikamaru answered.

"But it's true... I hurt you. I can't ever take that back." Sasuke said sullenly as they sat Shikamaru's bags down in Sasuke's room.

The other sighed, turning before he slid close to the other male and put his arms around him, drawing him close. "I don't care, you have all the time in the world to make it up to me." He answered.

The small Uchiha trembled before nodding and let himself sink against the other. "Don't leave me... I can't stand the thought of you ever leaving again."

Shikamaru subconsciously felt the tug on his psyche from the link the Uchiha made with him and responded by shaking his head and moved the two of them until he was sitting on the bed with the other boy in his arms. "Never, Sasuke. I'm not going to leave you again. We're going to do this together, I promise."

"Okay..." Sasuke whispered.

"Come on, let's get something to eat and go to bed, okay?" Shikamaru suggested.

"Yeah," Sasuke replied, managing the barest of smiles.

The two made their meal together before they sat down and ate.

"What mission do you think we'll be going on tomorrow?" Shikamaru asked.

"Probably an escort, who knows. There have been many rumors of bandit activity lately. But, it seems...odd. It feels like there's more to it than just simple banditry." Sasuke replied with a frown.

"You think it's serious?"

"Maybe... I'm only guessing."

"Hm. You may be right, though."

"Let's hope I'm not, though. If I am, it may mean trouble."

"We'll be able to handle it." Shikamaru assured.

"I know." Sasuke replied.

"Then what are you worried about?"

"...This." Sasuke replied, slowly pulling his shirt collar to the side, revealing the curse mark.

Shikamaru stared at it. "What about it...?"

"It's been trying to act up lately. I've been keeping it under control, but I fear this bandit activity could possibly be tied to Orochimaru. If it is, then..."

"...You're worried the mark may get out of hand, right?"

"Yeah..." Sasuke replied softly.

"Don't worry, we won't let it. I won't let anything happen."

",..Thanks." Sasuke replied, giving the faintest of smiles.

"Heh, don't worry so much." Shikamaru replied with a grin.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, throwing a small wad of rice at the other who only snorted at the childish response.

They finished eating and made their way back to Sasuke's room. They got ready for bed and Sasuke sighed as he stared out at the sky. Clouds had rolled in and thunder had begun rumbling. Shikamaru slid in behind the boy and put his arm around him as he curled close. "It always sounds like the Kami are fighting..." He murmured.

Sasuke's eyes went glossy, as he replied. "It's just the Kami's way of showing their power..."

Shikamaru made a humming sound and both let themselves remember that night they were curled close with Itachi. Sasuke shuddered, and it was a long time before Shikamaru noticed the scent of tears, but when he did he pulled the other tighter against him and kissed the back of the boy's neck, murmuring soft comforting things to him.

It was a few more hours of silent comforting before either fell asleep for the night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** Twisted Time  
**Series:** Naruto  
**Rating:** T  
**Genres:** Drama, sorta-angst, adventure, romance.  
**Warnings:** Crack, swearing, shounen-ai, shojou-ai, het, insane love triangle with the Uchiha's, my typical.  
**Verse:** Canon Redeux.

**DHC:** Oh god this took me forever to find the inspiration to write, but I hope everyone likes it! Enjoy, peeps! -hearts-

* * *

The next day had the whole team packed up, preparing for a mission. They were to be sent to Suna for a month, recent bandit activity had risen along the border and with the disarray of Suna, had requested help from Konoha to put a stop to it. Several other genin and chuunin teams had been deployed to patrol along certain points of the expanse, but they were to guard the main entry-way between Suna and Konoha.

"Well," Asuma mumbled around his cigarette, hefting his pack around his shoulder. "Shall we get going?"

Sasuke lifted his head to the sky. For some reason, an ominous feeling had settled into his chest. He glanced towards Shikamaru and Hinata. The two finished securing their own bags before they nodded.

"Let's head out." Sasuke answered back to Asuma. "The sooner we get there, the happier the Hokage will be." He snorted.

Asuma gave a wry grin. "True enough. Let's go!"

They took off at a moderate pace in the direction of Suna.

It took about a day and a half, with Asuma pushing the three to train in endurance for the trek for them to reach the borders.

Two familiar faces met them there.

"Uchiha, Sasuke..." Sabaku no Temari said quietly, her brother Kankuro beside her.

Sasuke leveled his eyes with her coolly. He acknowledged her after a moment with a small nod, glancing towards Asuma.

"I hope we're not too late," Asuma said quietly, hoping to alleviate some of the tension he felt between the group.

Temari shook her head. "No, you're early, in fact. You're the first Konoha team to make it to the border."

"...First?" Hinata asked curiously.

"It takes approximately three days to reach the border usually." Shikamaru informed, scratching the back of his head. "It's only been about a day and a half for us."

"Aa," Temari replied with a nod. "You're fast."

"We traveled all night," Sasuke murmured with a shrug.

"I figured they could use some lessons in endurance." Asuma replied with a shrug of his own.

"...I see. So why you?" The girl asked.

"Because we're a new team." Sasuke answered, turning away coldly. "I refuse to be held back by that idiot and the girl."

Shikamaru frowned, moving without hesitating to place his hand on Sasuke's arm. Sasuke's shoulders unscrunched and he visibly relaxed, surprising the two siblings.

The blond girl's brow rose at the scene, but she said nothing. "Kankuro," She spoke, gaining her brother's attention.

"Hn?" He questioned, turning towards her.

"...Show them the guardpost, they should take a few hours to rest before we begin." She answered.

"And you?" He asked.

She turned on her heel, glancing over her shoulder. "To investigate further. There's a strange scent to the wind..."

Kankuro frowned deeply, but nodded. "Be careful," He warned before he turned to Asuma and his team. "Follow me," He muttered.

Nodding, the four followed after the puppet-wielder while Temari went in the opposite direction.

Merely two hours later, Kankuro sprang to his feet, looking alarmed. "That feel...Temari!" He cried.

"I don't feel anything." Hinata said quietly.

"There's something on the wind," Asuma said with a frown.

"Exactly," Kankuro said with a heavy frown. "It's my sister's warning. Something's up!"

Sasuke got to his feet from where he'd been sitting by Shikamaru, who quickly joined him along with Hinata, and the three of them looked towards Asuma for instruction.

"Lead us towards her, Kankuro. You know her best." Asuma said with a frown.

The puppet wielder nodded grimly and the five of them headed out of the cabin at a full run in the direction Temari had headed.

"Hinata, tell me, what can you see ahead of us?" Asuma asked.

Hinata activated her Byakugan as they ran, scanning the area.

"There's... There's something wrong. I can't tell what, but there's absolutely nothing, but this heavy feeling in my chest..." She almost whispered.

"I feel it, too." Sasuke murmured, his Sharingan activated as he scanned the area around them as well.

Shikamaru grunted in agreement.

"Temari's chakra signature is written all over this area," Kankuro muttered. "But there's no signs of a struggle...something's off."

"A trap?" Hinata asked.

"No," Asuma replied. "A lure, perhaps, but this is no trap...yet."

"Yet?" Sasuke asked.

"They were trying to set us up, but something went wrong. I don't think they were counting on Temari leaving such a heavy chakra signature. They were forced to abandon this place." Shikamaru deduced as he looked around.

"Correct." Asuma replied, nodding. "Kankuro, can you feel which way your sister's signature was headed?"

"...No." Kankuro shook his head.

"He may not, but I can." Sasuke said, squinting his eyes. "Hinata, your eyes can track chakra trails better than mine, can you see any faint trails heading in the three o'clock direction?" Sasuke asked the girl.

Hinata's eyes twitched as she looked in that direction. "...Yes! There's a trail, it would be faint to your eyes, but mine see it like it's been painted there... Good job, Sasuke!" She praised.

Sasuke nodded grimly, turning towards their sensei. "Should we follow it?"

Asuma nodded. "Yes. Even if it may be a trap, if we know it is, we can at least know what to expect. We can't leave Temari behind. Hinata, Sasuke, take the lead."

Kankuro looked a bit grateful towards them, but said nothing and simply followed after them when they took off in that direction, Sasuke and Hinata at the front, using their doujutsu to follow the trail of chakra that was left behind.

"I-I see something ahead!" Hinata said quietly to Sasuke as the two of them paused on a tree limb. She held her hand up to still the others as well.

"What is it, Hinata?" Sasuke asked.

"I can make out Temari from here, they're..." She flinched, looking away.

Sasuke placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her and she nodded. "How many can you see?"

"Four." She said again, eyes squinting. "All of them bare sinister chakra... It... It looks similar to the kind you give off when the mark acts up."

Sasuke grimaced. "Orochimaru." He hissed.

Asuma and Shikamaru winced visibly and Kankuro's eyes widened. "Why would they take Temari?" He demanded

"I-I don't know," Hinata answered. "Maybe they knew we were coming..."

Sasuke's fists clenched. "We have to save her, but we need a plan. We can rush in, especially if these are Orochimaru's people. Who knows what tricks they have up their sleeve. They definitely have the advantage, but..."

Asuma nodded grimly. "I think they're counting on that fact, so why don't we give them exactly what they want?"

Shikamaru blinked, before catching on. "So you want us to go in acting like we don't know it's a trap and then launch our own?"

"Exactly so, Shika." Asuma replied.

Sasuke nodded. "I think I have an idea, then..."

The group five minutes later made contact with the group that was affiliated with Orochimaru.

"No...no! Go, get away!" Temari yelled at them. "It's a trap!"

"Shut up, you stupid bitch." A redheaded girl snapped, backhanding the blond.

"Get your hands off my sister!" Kankuro roared, Crow unwrapped and hovering above the ground thanks to the chakra strings now attached to it as the male got into a stance.

"Tch! You don't look like much." The redhead commented, before another walked up.

"Where is the one called Uchiha, Sasuke?" They demanded, they had six arms and black hair.

"Right here!" Sasuke yelled as he vaulted up over Kankuro, the puppet wielder letting the boy push off of his shoulder with his foot to fly straight at the two, his hands a blur of seals. "Katon: Housenka no jutsu!"

Shikamaru dashed to the left, releasing a handful of kunai while Hinata took the right, releasing shuriken from her hands.

Asuma took the moment to appear beside Temari and grabbed her, kawarimi-ing with her to a safer distance as he untied her.

"They won't last long," Temari warned weakly. "They have...they have sinister powers."

"Just relax," Asuma reassured her. "Sasuke knows what he's doing."

The two standing there were not expecting the head-on attack and the most they could do was brace to take the impact before another appeared, the projectiles just bouncing off and the flames impacted upon earth as the large male shielded the other two with a large boulder of earth.

"Jiroubo!" The redheaded girl cried.

"I told you, you two idiots were weak." The other snarled before he hurled the large sphere of earth straight at Sasuke.

Sasuke twisted his body, rolling in mid-air to avoid it, leaving Kankuro to dive out of the way as it would have hit him next. The redheaded girl looked angry as she pulled something metal from her waist. It was a silver flute and she brought it up to her lips, beginning to play a melody.

At once, the ground shook and three spirit monsters emerged.

The other began making various seals with all six of his arms and when all three sets finished, various effects happened.

One, a large spider was summoned by one set, secondly, a large bow materialized from the spit the male created and hardened before he created three arrows from his spit, fit them to the string and drew them back with one of his free hand, twisting to take aim at Hinata who was recovering from avoiding an attack from one of the redhead's monsters.

"Hinata!" Asuma yelled in warning.

The girl didn't flinch and instead pushed herself to start spinning, large whitened streaks of chakra forming at her palms as she rotated around. "Protection of the Sixty-four palms!"

The arrows shattered upon impact with the dome of light she created.

Shikamaru was quick to follow with another volley of kunai straight at the large spider, ducking under a large swing from one of the girl's spirit things and dove to the side and rolled.

As if the situation were not heavy enough, the fourth and final figure stepped into the fray.

"Sakon! Ukon!" The spider-like guy called.

With a devious grin, the figure split into two, and they began to form their own swift set of seals.

Sasuke dashed for the two, hands a blur of speed. "Katon: Housenka no jutsu!" He blew the flames straight for them, but was a mere seconds too late as the two re-sealed together and swung at him, inky black lines stretching across their skin.

"Augh!" Sasuke cried as he was sent flying back from the impact of the hit he took.

Then, the rest of them all morphed as well, taking on demonic lines from the sinister chakra Orochimaru sealed them with.

"This isn't good," Shikamaru mumbled to Hinata as the two regrouped together, trying to make their way over to Sasuke.

Kankuro formed a quick set of seals, unsealing another puppet and sent Crow forward in a volley of projectiles, the second one acted like a shield, blocking every attack coming at him and he managed to maneouver around behind the girl. "Gotcha!" He yelled as the two puppets closed in on either side. Crow and Ant split apart, becoming a cage to grab the girl and the various disconnected parts reshaped into weapons. "Secret Black Technique: Iron Maiden!"

There was a ear-piercing shriek, followed by a sickening squelch as the weapons embedded in upon the open slots before blood began running out.

"Tayuya!" Cried the six-armed one before he snarled and directed his summoned spider's attack after the puppeteer.

Kankuro, due to the harsh toll of chakra it took to perform the move, was not in the shape to move or dodge. Temari leaped infront of his way, her fan in hand and slammed her palm, which she'd already cut and screamed: "Kuchiyose no jutsu! Summoning dance!"

A white weasel with an eye-patch appeared with a sickle-scythe and a hail-storm of wind and weapons impacted like a whirlwind with the force of a typhoon upon the Spider, slicing it to pieces in seconds.

"T-Temari..." Kankuro began.

"You idiot," She replied, looking back at him with the smallest of smiles.

"Heads up!" Asuma called as he brought his knuckle-blades up and with a large arc of chakra imbued into them, cut sheer through the large webbing that the spider-like male sent their way, appearing infront of them before jumping off to re-engage Sakon and Ukon

"Thanks," Temari replied, before she looked to her brother. "Let's show these punks not to mess with sand-nins!"

A devil's smirk was her only response from her brother before the two leaped back into the fray against Kidomaru, who was trying to get cheap hits in with Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Hinata in their fight against Jiroubo.

Sasuke had lost control of his temper when Jiroubo had slapped Shikamaru headfirst into a tree and sent Hinata crashing to the ground when she tried to hit his blind-spot.

His cursed-mark flared to life and his Sharingan swirled madly, a third tomoe splice appearing in it as he dashed with newfound speed straight for the guy. Copying Lee's techniques once again, he opened the first gate, grimacing with pain at the toll it took, but he slammed his fist into the large male's gut, sending him rocketing upwards into the sky before he leaped up after him, in his blind-spot, he slammed his elbow into the guy's spleen from behind before twirling his body around, slamming his ankle into their stomach and flipped around one more time to drive both of his feet into their gut at they came impacting upon the ground. "Lion's barrage!"

"Ugh!" The guy cried as Sasuke flipped away.

Shikamaru shook the dizziness away and Hinata pulled herself to her feet, shaking the pain away from her body and once again got into a ready stance.

Sasuke landed beside her. "Hinata, together, chidori." He breathed heavily.

The girl's Byakugan eyes met his Sharingan ones and they both nodded. As one, they began to make the necessary seals as Jiroubo got up and was rushing straight for them. Before he could get within fifteen yards, he stopped dead. Shikamaru was holding him down, cringing with effort, his hands were shaking from how hard it was to keep them still.

Lightning in their palms, the Uchiha and Hyuuga dashed straight for the large male. "Chidori!" They cried. The sick sound of flesh tearing was heared and Shikamaru released the now-dead male's body as Hinata and Sasuke pulled their blooded hands back from the corpse, letting it fall at their feet.

"We-we did it.." Hinata breathed.

Sasuke nodded, "It's not over yet, though. Come on, we still have to help Asuma-sensei and the other two."

Temari was wearing down fast against Kidomaru. She swung her fan, generating a huge gust of wind and sent it barreling for him, but the male disappeared at the last second. Temari tried to turn to look around. "Where're you lookin'?" The voice called from behind her. Before she could even turn, her eyes widened as she felt one of the male's arrows pierce through her side. "Guh!" She cried, feeling her body falling and unable to even respond to stop it. She hit the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood as she gasped, her hand covering over the large wound.

"Temari!" Kankuro cried, appearing by his sister's side.

"F-finish him!" She hissed.

"But, you're hurt!" He growled back.

"Do it, you asshole!"

Hesitating, the puppet-wielder finally nodded and turned towards Kidomaru who was grinning frim ear-to-ear. Determined to wipe that expression off their face, he gathered all his remaining energy and sprung for the male, his puppets following him. He used Ant to deflect the three arrows aimed at him and fired a smokebomb directly at the others feet when it went off, he took the moment to maneouver himself behind them. When it cleared and the other was looking for him, he launched Crow forward, all weapons extended and once again had it partially transform into a cage. He caught the male and began clenching his fingers in, pulling the chakra strings hard against the struggling Sound nin. There was sickening crunching noises as he slowly crushed the male's limbs and ribs one by one and the weapons that were in Crow itself were stabbing and slicing into him the more he impacted them inwards.

The male was screaming curses and obscenities and with one final hard yank, the yelling ceased and the male's lifeless eyes were gazing out into nothing. Kankuro let his body fall to the ground and leaped down from the tree back to where his sister was lying, now with Sasuke and Hinata at her side, with Shikamaru off helping Asuma against Sakon and Ukon, who were proving to be the the most formidable.

"Temari!" He cried as he watched her try to sit up.

"Shut it, gaki." She replied with some breathlessness to her voice as she grit her teeth. "It's just a scratch."

Hinata shook her head. "Please, don't move so much, you'll make it worse." She insisted. "Sasuke, please hold her arms and brace her. This will hurt..."

Sasuke nodded mutely and slid down to his knees behind the girl and grasped her by the wrists, bringing them up criss-cross over her chest. "Do it, Hinata."

The blond Sand kunoichi grimaced, sucking in a deep breath and Kankuro was forced to close his eyes and grit his own teeth as Hinata placed her hands over the wound and began to heal it.

Temari grit her teeth, but the pain soon became too much and she let out a scream, her nails digging sharply into her own shoulders as she thrashed in Sasuke's hold. Hinata was sitting on her legs, so she couldn't even react physically to it.

"Forgive me," Hinata whispered as she finished sealing the wound over, leaving nothing but a scar behind as she did so. Temari's scream died off, letting out the faintest of whimpers as she fell into unconsciousness against Sasuke.

Sasuke let out a tense breath. "Is she stable?" He asked.

Hinata ran her lightly-glowing hand over Temari, checking her vitals before she gave a nod. "Y-yes. She's just physically exhausted." She looked to Kankuro who had opened his eyes again. "Take her back to Suna and get her treated some more, what I did only healed the majority." Kankuro looked a bit hesitant, but nodded, taking his sister's limp form from Sasuke. "Thanks... I owe you."

Hinata shook her head. "Go."

The Sand shinobi nodded seriously and took off.

Sasuke looked at Hinata who was shaking all over. "You alright?"

"H-Her life was in my hands, Sasuke..." She whispered, sounding almost frightened. "I-I could have messed up..."

"But you didn't," Sasuke assured. "You didn't mess up, and she will live because of it. It's all because of you, Hinata. It was you who saved her. Don't tarnish that accomplishment by what could've happened. Rest, I'm going to go help Asuma and Shikamaru."

The girl nodded mutely, giving the boy the faintest of smiles that he returned before rushing off to find the other two.

"Not good," Shikamaru mumbled to Asuma as they were backed into a corner with Sakon and Ukon advancing on them. Both of them were low on chakra, Shikamaru moreso than Asuma, and they'd run out of projectiles and Sakon and Ukon had already managed to disarm the Jounin of his knuckle-blades.

"Looks like it, eh?" He joked back, but his expression was still serious.

"Give it up," Drawled Sakon.

"You're nothing but trash." Ukon added on.

As the two finished closing in on the two, bringing their hands up to begin their final jutsu to finish them off, suddenly Sakon's eyed widened and he let out a gurgled noise and blood suddenly began pouring from his mouth.

Ukon looked over and behind him was Sasuke, his katana thrust straight through his brother and the male violently twisted the sword, making the other cry out sharply before Sasuke forcefully extracted the blade, watching as they collapsed to their knees.

"You bastard!" Ukon screamed with rage.

Sasuke turned his Sharingan gaze upon them, the curse mark on his shoulder reacting violently and with a lurch, his body turned completely ashen gray and large wings burst from his back, his hair lengthening and spiking out further and he took on a completely demonic shape.

"S-Sasuke?" Shikamaru gasped, taking a step forward.

Asuma stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Don't interfere, we don't know if the seal has taken him over or not yet."

Shikamaru looked on, biting his lip.

Sasuke let out an inhuman snarl and charged another Chidori to his hand. It sputtered mid-way, but with a grit of his teeth, it reignited and with a burst of newfound energy, the lightning turned black and he dashed straight for the other.

"Die!" He screamed, slamming his hand clear through the others chest up to his elbow, watching as their eyes widened dramatically, gurgling on a gasp before their eyes went dim and he extracted his arm and turned to the now dying figure of Sakon.

"Where is Orochimaru?" He demanded. The other looked up at him with widened eyes.

"Hideout..." He mumbled.

"Where?"

"In a base...near Rice..."

"What does he want with me?"

"He wants...your body...for the Sharingan..." Sakon coughed, spitting out blood.

"Why?"

"So he can be...cough...immortal and learn...every jutsu...in the world."

A disgusted expression came upon Sasuke's features before he vehemently shoved Sakon back and grabbed his katana.

Sakon's eyes closed, having nothing more to say and knowing his end was soon, whether it was at Sasuke's hand or if they left him. Besides, he had nothing left to live for, now that his brother was dead.

Sasuke plunged the sword through the male's heart wordlessly, finishing everything.

He was shaking and breathing hard, rage was just coursing through him and he wanted nothing more then and there to be able to rip Orochimaru apart with his own bare hands.

Arms came around him and warmth encased him and he was suddenly re-aware of everything, and everyone around him. He wearily closed his eyes and let himself collapse back agaist Shikamaru, the ghostly-colouring to him leaving and the cursed mark receeding and he returned to normal. When his eyes opened, they were pure black again instead of the Sharingan.

Asuma looked at the two and nodded. "I'll go get Hinata."

Shikamaru nodded at their sensei and the man left to find the heiress.

Sasuke was still trembling. "He wants... Simply to become..." He sounded hollow.

"Shh," Shikamaru soothed, pulling the other tighter into his embrace.

Sasuke looked back at him with empty eyes and Shikamaru felt his heartbreaking for him. "It's over now, Sasuke, and I swear, I won't let that snake have you. Now that we know the whereabouts of where his base is, we can inform Tsunade. She won't let this go."

Sasuke turned in the others embrace and latched onto him in a tight grip. Hinata and Asuma returned, looking solemn at the scene of Sasuke's vulnerability. Shikamaru looked at the two wearily. "We should head back to the cabin..." He suggested. Wordlessly, he picked Sasuke up bridal style, not even hearing the other protest, far too distraught to care. The three took off back to the cabin.

They recovered over the course of two more days and Temari and Kankuro returned, with Gaara in tow.

The redhead looked at Hinata with a piercing gaze that had her almost coming apart in anxiety.

"...You saved my sister?" He finally asked.

"I-I... Um... I-I didn't do anything big...I just cinched the wound closed until she could get more help..." She stuttered.

The redhead was silent for a few moments longer. "...Thank you."

Her head shot up and her eyes widened with shock. "H-huh?"

"Gaara..." Temari said softly, looking at her youngest brother with small surprise.

Gaara stepped forward and held a white desert flower out to the girl. Her eyes widened further but with trembling hands, reached out and accepted it. "Th-thank you... R-really, I didn't do much..."

"You saved my sister," Gaara replied insistently. "I...don't know where I would be without her. Or Kankuro." He added on, glancing back towards his siblings who both looked at a loss for words at his actions.

"You'd be fine without us," Kankuro mumbled, glad his facepaint hit the majority of his embarassed flush.

Temari looked to be as if she were fighting back her emotions to remain in control of herself.

"Y-you're welcome." Hinata replied, giving the shyest of smiled to the three.

"Anything else happen while we were gone?" Kankuro finally asked.

Asuma shook his head. "No, everything seems quiet now."

"That's good... Still, why would Orochimaru and the sound bother to cause a disturbance here rather than just bring it straight to Konoha?" Temari asked.

"Presuming that he can still possibly seize control of Suna, perhaps?" Shikamaru offered.

Sasuke was still silent, merely picking at his rice and moved the Shougi piece he was fingering across the board. "Check."

Shikamaru looked back with a risen brow, looking down at the board before grinning faintly. He made a move of his own. "Checkmate."

Sasuke frowned, but nodded.

Gaara watched the scene curiously for a second before turning away. "The activity here has calmed down, we were sent to inform you that all genin teams may return to Konoha to rest."

Asuma nodded. "Thanks. We'll probably depart in a few hours, then."

The three nodded.

Temari stepped around Gaara and also offered a small wrapped box to Hinata. "Here, as my own thanks." Then, she turned and tossed the other three some new satchels of weapons. "As my thanks, and to make up for everything."

Hinata was blushing heavily as she opened the box and took out a beautiful hair-comb that was wraught with golden leaves with a beautiful ivory flower in the center. "T-thank you!" She gasped.

Temari gave the slightest of smiles. "It sets off your eyes."

The Hyuuga heiress blushed even brighter and ducked her head.

"We need to get back," Gaara said quietly and his siblings nodded.

"Farewell." Asuma said.

Gaara nodded to them and the three took off back to Suna.

Three hours found Team Asuma packed up and heading back towards Konoha. Hinata had specially brushed her hair up into a fanciful twisted bun, pinning it back with the gift Temari had given her, all with the desert flower Gaara had given her tucked safely away so no wear-and-tear would come upon it.

Sasuke was quiet the whole way, but Shikamaru remained close, but far enough to give him his space, but to assure him he was there if he needed.

Upon their return two days later and reporting to Tsunade, the woman nodded gravely and promised the Uchiha that Orochimaru's actions would not go unchecked and that she would send an ANBU scouting team ahead to locate Orochimaru's hideout.

Heading home to the Uchiha district, Sasuke wearily collapsed onto the bed.

"Are you alright, Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked slowly as he entered the room a few moments later.

Heaving a loud sigh, Sasuke opened his eyes, their look, smouldering. "I need you."

The smallest of smirks rose to the shadow-wielder's expression. "Always." He responded.

He descended towards Sasuke and their lips met heatedly, no more words being said for the remainder of the day.

**TBC**

* * *

**DHC: **Um, um, yeah... I don't really have much to say on this except that I took major creative license with this. xD


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